“Demand [is] so big for Austin’s first Narcan vending machine, it’s restocked daily”

Lucas Hill, director of the Texas Opioid Training Initiative, recently told the Austin-American Statesman, “We need naloxone everywhere. We need it easily and freely accessible.” That’s why first responders in Austin, Texas all carry—and regularly administer—naloxone, which is a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. But it can be more difficult for members of the public to obtain the drug themselves—its $100+ per dose price tag at the pharmacy makes it cost prohibitive for most people and the state-run free distribution program ran out of money at the beginning of the year due to high demand. That’s where NICE (or, Narcan In Case of Emergency) comes in. The group set-up a vending machine that dispenses single-use cost-free doses of Narcan. Em Gray, who founded NICE, recently told the Austin-American Statesman that the project has been overwhelmed by demand—“I thought I had enough (Narcan supply) to get through a couple of months … But I have pretty much blown through that in a week.”